


Hotel for Souls

by narryblossom



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Gen, M/M, also the ziall friendship is strong in this one, but it's all about the narry relationship, this isn't really about the narry relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-28
Updated: 2014-12-28
Packaged: 2018-03-03 22:50:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,378
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2890952
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/narryblossom/pseuds/narryblossom
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Niall finds himself at the Hotel for Souls, he's faced with a life or death situation: to live or to die.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Hotel for Souls

**Author's Note:**

> There's so much that you don't notice when you only read something once; patterns of repetition important to a story are completely forgotten, sly word choices that the author uses are rarely noted, and subtle details are overlooked. 
> 
> It's important that you pay attention.

_Beep. Beep. Beep._

Harry sighed. Slowly he leaned down over the edge of the bed beside him, clasping his hands together tightly around Niall’s hand. “Come back to me, Niall.” Harry mumbled, feeling a lump forming in his throat. “Come back home.”

_Beep. Beep. Beep._

Harry sighed again. He knew that Niall couldn’t hear him, yet he still talked to him; he knew that Niall wouldn’t wake up just because he asked him to for the millionth time, but it didn’t make him stop asking.

“I love you, Niall. Please come back.” He whimpered, dropping his forehead to the bed. Harry doesn’t remember how long it took, but as tears began to dry on his cheeks, the rhythmic heart monitor lulled him to sleep.

 

Everything was white. There were no colors where Niall found himself, nor any shapes of things that would have had color. The ground was completely void of inclines or depressions for as far as his eyes could see; that is, if there _was_ a defined ground, he couldn’t see it. Niall slid his foot forward to assure himself that the ground was there, and it was, which almost surprised him. He began walking.

Niall was very careful at first, taking his steps slowly after tapping his foot on the ground to make sure that he wouldn’t fall through an invisible hole. He slowly became less cautious as he grew annoyed at moving slowly. “There were no holes yet, so there won’t be any later.” He told himself, and he was right.

As Niall walked, things around him changed; a horizon became visible in front of him. It started as a small shadow appearing in the distance, then slowly blossomed with colors. As he get closer, the ground grew colorful. It was green as if there was grass, but there were no textures. In front of him was a dirt path, which he began to follow; still, the path was straight and included no incline nor depression.

Beside him, things began to grow. The colors of the grass and pathway extended outward, causing trees to appear in thick lines. Small weed-flowers grew on the edges of the path such as Dandelions and Queen Anne’s Lace. Niall looked ahead as shades and highlights began to develop in the flat colors that had once existed. He was watching the world around him progress and become 3-D.

Niall suddenly stopped in his tracks. _Was there anything behind him?_ As he tried to turn his neck to see, a sharp pain forced him to stop. He cried out in pain as he reached up and cupped his hands around his neck. “What the hell?!” He exclaimed. His neck was warm and it hurt, but there was nothing on it. He slowly dropped his hands and turned his whole body rather than his neck. Behind him was nothing. It was all white, like what he had seen when he first became conscious of his surroundings. He was confused, but he didn’t want to go back into the white area, so he turned back around and continued to walk. Every once in a while he would stop and turn around to see if what he saw in front of him moments ago would now be behind him, but it wasn’t. It was gone.

When Niall’s legs began to ache, he started to wish for a place to rest, or a person to talk with and get his mind on some sort of track. (For the past God knows how long, Niall had simply been wondering if he would find something at the end of this path, or if he would be walking forever.) One building began to emerge on the left side of the path. His first thought told him it was someone’s house, then as it grew taller and taller, he began to think it was an office building, or an apartment complex. But then he saw the base of the building with glistening, glittering tiles in a large archway under a roof that extended out from the building. His path led to that building under the strange welcoming platform, and then came out in two directions from the opposite side. One path continued leading on straight, and one turned back into the path he was just on.

When he got to the edge of the welcoming platform, he looked up and saw the word “Hotel” in large, gold letters along the metallic, curved rim of the roof. More words extended beyond the curve, but all that mattered to Niall was the fact that he had found a place to rest. He walked across the platform and towards the large, glass doors with glittering gold handles to match the lettering on the roof. He pulled the door open and felt a cold breeze hit him from inside the building. As he entered the hotel, he began to hear voices chattering amongst themselves from somewhere in the lobby or long halls that stretched away from the lobby in two directions. Oh, what a pleasure it was to hear something again.

“Hello.” A deep voice called out to Niall. Niall quickly looked in the direction of the voice and saw a man standing behind a long marble counter that stood near four feet tall and extended across the entire lobby. The man was about the same height as Niall, with a similarly thin build, except the man had skin, hair, and eyes all much darker than Niall’s, and his chin and jaw was covered with scruffy hair. The man wore a black dress shirt with a black suit-jacket on top, although he had no tie. Below the counter, Niall assumed he had matching black pants and shoes. His outfit was formal, like what Niall expected an employee of a hotel such as this with gold lettering and tiled entryways to wear.

“Hi,” Niall said quietly, taking slow steps towards the counter and the man.

“Niall Horan?” The man asked, looking down at a computer that rested below a glass panel in the desk. Niall looked at the name tag attached to his jacket and saw the name “Zayn” spelled out in bold, gold letters.

“Y-yes,” Niall stammered out, confused as to how the man knew his name.

“You’ve arrived just on time.” Zayn said, looking up at Niall with a closed-mouth smile.

“I was expected…?” Niall asked, now more confused than before.

“Yes,” Zayn nodded. “Everyone is expected sometime or another.” He looked back down at the screen and read to Niall, “Seven days stay, room 818 on the 8th floor of north tower.” Niall didn’t say anything, causing Zayn to chuckle quietly. “I’ll lead you to your room. Please excuse me for a moment.” Zayn turned away from Niall and walked to the far end of the counter where there was a gap that he passed through, then the turned and walked back to Niall (and Niall was right, Zayn wore black from head to toe).

“Don’t you have to stay at the desk in case someone else comes in?” Niall asked as he and Zayn began to walk down the hall that was labeled as “North tower.”

“Every person that comes in the door has a specific worker that will attend to them. I won’t have another person come until your stay is over.” Zayn explained. When they reached an elevator, Zayn pressed the button that pointed up. Niall bit his lips.

“I don’t like elevators.” Niall said quietly.

“You’ll be alright.” Zayn promised. “This elevator is large, and it moves quickly—plus, it has never been broken, and never will be.” As a bell dinged and the doors opened, Niall’s eyes widened. Zayn wasn’t kidding when he said it was a large elevator. Niall thought that his whole family could fit in there with no trouble.

Niall walked into the elevator first and stood in the middle. Zayn followed behind and pressed the button with the number eight on it, then stood back from doors as they closed. Before Niall could think of something to say to break the silence, the doors opened again and Zayn was leading Niall out of the elevator.

“I hope the room will be to your liking,” Zayn said as the pair turned away from the elevator to their right. “Every room is designed specifically for each customer.” They made a left turn into a short hallway.

“How is that possible?” Niall asked.

“Well,” Zayn started as they made a second left turn, “This isn’t a ‘normal’ hotel.” Zayn abruptly stopped and turned to a door on the left side of the hallway, causing Niall to run into him. He blushed and apologized quickly, as Zayn only smiled. “Here’s your room. Please remember that it’s two left turns after you make an exit from the elevator.”

“Okay,” Niall mumbled quietly as Zayn opened the door. The room was fitting of a five-star hotel with famous service and a flawless staff—maybe that’s the kind of hotel that Niall found himself in. The ceilings were easily fifteen feet tall. On the wall opposite the door were the windows—it’d be easier to say the windows _were_ the wall, because they stretched floor to ceiling, and wall to wall. They were covered with golden, silk drapes that slightly pooled on the floor. Immediately to the left of the door to Niall’s room was a hall that lead to a bathroom, and opened into a kitchen on the right.  In the main room, built into the wall was a very large television and stereo. Beneath that was a large, cherry wood dresser that had drawers that were at least two feet wide, and at least four drawers per each of its three rows. The bed was a California king, large enough for multiple people to sleep in although Niall would be staying alone (and it looked more comfortable than any bed he’d ever slept on or seen in all of his life).

“How much does this cost?” He blurted out as he turned away from the room, and towards Zayn in shock.

“It doesn’t cost a thing to you,” Zayn chuckled. “It’s free.”

“Free?!” Niall gasped. “How is this free?!”

“I’m telling you, this isn’t a ‘normal’ hotel. Don’t worry about it, Niall. No one has never had a bad thing to say about this place.” Zayn shrugged.

“Okay,” He shook his head, “I don’t know what to say to that, but just… _okay_.”

“Everything you need is here.” Zayn began speaking, gesturing towards the room. “There are clothes in those drawers, as well as a few pairs of shoes in one of the bottom-most drawers. In the bathroom under the sink you’ll find all the necessary toiletries, and the kitchen is completely stocked. If you don’t know how you cook, you can call room service—I’m your room service—and they—I—will cook for you.”

“I am pretty starved,” Niall patted his stomach. “I don’t know the last time I ate. Hell, I don’t know the last time I sat down or showered or talked to someone. I don’t know what the hell went on this morning, or this afternoon, or night. I don’t know what it was. I really don’t know.”

“The White is timeless,” Zayn mumbled, putting his hands in his pockets. “I’m glad you found your way here.” He said as he began to walk towards the hall to the kitchen. “What are you in the mood to eat?”

“I don’t care, just somethin’ tasty.” Niall followed Zayn. As Zayn searched the kitchen for the necessary foods and utensils he needed to cook Niall’s meal, Niall sat up on the countertop and began to question him.

“What’s ‘The White’?”

“The White is the white area that you were in. It’s just as it sounds. It’s white.”

“I know that,” Niall rolled his eyes, “But what is the purpose of it? Where is it, how is it timeless?”

“Where _isn’t_ it?” Zayn retorted. Niall glared at the back of his head until Zayn began to speak again. “Really, though. Where _isn’t_ it is an easier question. It’s nothing anyone has ever seen before when they first get to it. It’s just white. Some people freak out and never think to walk. Some people, like yourself, walk and then they get here. Some people walk and then stop and turn back, or they stop and won’t go any further; stubborn, stubborn people, those.”

“So it’s nothing?”

“No, it’s something. It’s just not something anyone knows anything about until they get to this point.”

“This point? The hotel?” Niall felt his stomach drop. How could he have just been in a place that’s completely unexplainable?

“The hotel is a resting place. Some people are here for a long, long time, others leave almost as quickly as they found us. After you leave this hotel you have a decision to make.”

“What kind of a decision?” Niall blurted.

“I was getting there,” Zayn laughed. “When you leave the hotel, you turn left and continue on the path you walked when you found it, or you turn right and go back to The White.”

“What is there after this hotel? Where do I end up if I go left?”

“I wouldn’t know. I’ve never been. No one who goes that way ever comes back here. This is a very special place, Niall. But don’t let that scare you. Left is the better option to turning right.”

“ _Why_?”

Zayn dropped the knife he was using to chop vegetables then turned to Niall. “If you turn left, you live. If you turn right, you die.”

“What?” Niall shouted, jumping off of the counter. “What the hell do you mean by that?!”

“I mean what I said,” Zayn replied in his usual calm tone, slowing turning back towards what he was doing. “You’re alive now, but only barely. This is the Hotel for Souls.”

“You’re fuckin’ crazy,” Niall laughed, starting to walk away, then quickly turning around and coming back. “That or I’m fuckin’ crazy.”

“No one is crazy,” Zayn sighed, “Only dead or absent.” Niall stood still, dumbfounded at what Zayn was saying. No reaction seemed appropriate to what Zayn was telling him.

“So… I still have no idea what’s going on, Zayn.”

“I work here because I had a kind soul while I was alive. I’m not alive. _You’re_ alive. Your body is, anyway. But you, you that I’m speaking to, isn’t your body. The you that I am speaking to is your soul. And I know that none of this will make much sense, but some souls who try to end their lives are worthy of a second chance. You’re one of them.”

“So is this all, like, I’m my head or something? Are we teeny little people walking inside my mind? Where’s my body?” Niall slowly climbed onto the kitchen counter again. Zayn didn’t answer for a while as he focused on cooking, but he eventually spoke.

“London. Your body arrived last night. After a fight to keep you breathing, you finally stabilized. Right now, you’re in a room in a comatose state. There’s a boy who’s been by your bedside since the nurse told him where your room is.”

“Harry…?” Niall asked quietly, looking down at his hands.

“Harry Styles,” Zayn nodded. “Not someone we’ll ever see here, but yes, that’s his name.”

“He’s my boyfriend.”

“I know,” Zayn nodded again. “I know everything about you.”

“I want to be surprised and to gasp and ask why, but this is all so much that I’m not really surprised anymore.” Niall laughed pathetically.

“It’ll all be okay.” Zayn said, handing a plate of food towards Niall. “Eat and sleep. Ring me tomorrow when you wake up.” He said, as he left the kitchen. Niall sat still as he listened to Zayn’s footsteps go down the hall then leave the room.

 

When Niall awoke in the morning, he got up immediately and touched as many of his surroundings as he could to be sure that he wasn’t dreaming. Everything was solid. He was awake. Or maybe he wasn’t…? “Zayn said I’m a soul,” Niall mumbled, “He said my body is in a hospital in London and Harry is with me and…” Niall sighed, sitting down on the edge of the bed. “And none of this makes any sense.”

There was a quiet knock at the door. “Niall?” Zayn’s voice called out. “I brought you breakfast from a buffet we have downstairs. You awake?”

“Yeah,” Niall called, standing up. Zayn walked in the door before Niall could open it for him.

“That’s good. Here you go,” Zayn gave Niall the plate of food. “There’s nothing you have to do while you’re here. We just give you time to think.”

“So, I’m here to think?” Niall asked with a mouth full of bacon.

“Essentially, yes. You’ve got a life or death decision to make.”

“Literally.” Niall swallowed.

“Yes, literally.”

“So what did you mean when you said you were a kind soul when you were alive? Are you not like me?”  Niall asked after he had finished eating. He was sprawled across his bed, staring at the ceiling while Zayn sat in an armchair at the writing desk beside the window.

“I died.”

“Details?” Niall propped himself up on his elbows and looked at Zayn curiously. “You don’t look dead to me.”

“Of course I wouldn’t, that would be gross. Mm, I don’t want to give you too much detail, but I was in a car accident a few years ago and I died. Simple as that. Since it wasn’t my fault and I was seen as a pure soul after I had died, I was put here where I could help people rather than whatever alternative there is. I don’t know.”

“Oh,” Niall nodded, “Okay. Do I have to stay all seven days?”

“Not if you don’t want to. If you know which path you’ll walk before the seven days are over, you’re free to leave at any time.”

“What if I don’t wanna choose to live or die? What if I want to stay here?”

“Then you’ve chosen death. You can’t stay here any longer than how long we tell you at the front desk. You’re only allowed to stay here for a week…” Zayn looked down after he spoke and rubbed a spot of dirt on his shoe.

“You know everything about me. You know when I’m going to leave don’t you?” Niall asked, sitting up quickly.

“I do.” Zayn nodded, looking up. “You don’t need a week, Niall.”

“When do I decide to go?”

“I can’t tell you that,” Zayn laughed, “That would throw everything off.”

“I could bribe you. I’ll do whatever I have to if you’ll tell me, it’s not like there would be any repercussions here in this limbo if I streaked through the halls or sucked a dick, right?” Niall had a mischievous glint in his eye that made Zayn laugh.

“A guilty conscious for the rest of your life, maybe. You’re not going to bribe me by either of those things. You’re not going to bribe me at all. I literally cannot tell you. The words will not come out of my mouth even if I tried.”

“Fine,” Niall huffed. After a pause, he spoke again quietly. “I wouldn’t cheat on Harry anyway. I’ve already hurt him enough.”

“He’s okay, Niall.” Zayn rose to his feet. “He’s waiting for you.”

“Can you see him?” Niall questioned, standing up. Zayn nodded.

“He’s asleep on the side of your bed still. He’s been there all night. He told the nurses he wasn’t going to leave, so one of them brought him a blanket.” Zayn chuckled.

“That’s like him,” Niall smiled softly.

“Is it? I know all about you but I don’t know about Harry.”

“He’s selfless. He’d do anything for me, like stay by my side and refuse to leave in case I wake up. He’ll probably forget to eat until a nurse comes in and asks him to. He won’t leave me even for a second while I’m in that hospital, unless someone makes him, of course. He doesn’t want to be a burden to the doctors, but he doesn’t want to leave me alone. He gets so worried and so scared when he’s not around to make sure I’m okay, and I guess it was for good reason, huh?”

“He sounds like a good soul.” Zayn smiled. “A loyal one. He loves you a lot.”

“Yeah,” Niall agreed quietly.

“And you love him too, don’t you?”

“I do.” As Niall began to think about Harry, Zayn quietly left the room.

 

_It was midnight when the storm started. The thunder was so loud that it shook the entire house, rattling Niall to his bones. Lightning flashed brightly only moments later, causing an outline of the tree outside to cast itself across Niall’s room. Violent rain pelted the house and the windows, causing constant noise._

_Was there a knock at the door or was Niall so scared that he started hallucinating?_

_Knock knock knock._

_No, there was definitely a knock at the door._

_Niall got out of bed quickly and ran down the hall to the door. As he was about to open the door, he had a bad thought. “What if it’s someone trying to come in and hurt me? Robbers don’t knock, but they could if they knew I would let them in!”_

_“Wh-who is it?” Niall called out, slowly reaching for the door knob._

_“It’s Harry! Open up, Babe!”_

_“Harry!” Niall yelled as he flung open the door. He launched himself forward at Harry and hugged him tightly. He felt that Harry was soaking wet and very, very cold. “My god, you’re so cold! Get in here, you’re gonna get sick out there!” Niall exclaimed, pulling Harry in by his shirt._

_“Sorry about that,” Harry laughed as he began to drip water all over the floor. “I know you don’t like storms so I came over to distract you.” He beamed a smile at Niall and gently kissed his forehead. Niall felt a smile work its way onto his face, although it was quickly taken away when thunder rumbled again._

_“Ah!” He yelled, quickly hugging Harry and burying his face against his chest. Harry always made him feel safe._

_“C’mere, Ni.” Harry mumbled quietly, picking Niall up. Niall wrapped his legs around Harry’s waist tightly and kept his arms tightly around him as well. Niall kept his eyes shut tightly as Harry carried him. When Harry laid him down on his bed, he whimpered._

_“Don’t go, Harry, please.”_

_“I’m gonna go change so I can be dry, okay? I’ll be right back, I promise.”_

_“O-okay,” Niall mumbled, rubbing his eyes. Harry came back only moments later in a pair of dry boxers, and that’s it._

_“Decided I didn’t need clothes, I needed to be here protecting you. Let’s get under the blankets and try to sleep, okay?” Niall nodded, agreeing with Harry._

_“Did you come here just for me?” Niall asked when the storm started to subside at two._

_“Yeah,” Harry mumbled, half asleep. “I needed to make sure you were okay.”_

_“Thank you, Harry.” Niall kissed his cheek softly._

_“Anything for you.” Harry mumbled as he fell asleep. Niall had never felt more at home than he did when he was in Harry’s arms._

 

Niall sobbed throughout the rest of the day. How could he do that to Harry? Niall had promised Harry he would be there when he got home from work. Niall could imagine it now. Harry coming home and calling out for Niall with no response. He’d become panicked just at that. Harry would run around in every room in their flat and call for Niall until he finally went into their closet and then—

“No,” Niall sobbed, “No, no, no! I’m so sorry!” He choked and gasped for breath, “Harry!” Niall wailed. He sobbed and choked on his tears, finding it hard to breathe. He gasped and sobbed and kept trying to breathe but he couldn’t stop himself from crying.

“Hey, hey, shhh.” Suddenly Zayn was beside Niall, pulling him to sit up. Zayn’s arms circled around Niall tightly, with a hand beginning to rub Niall’s back. “He’s okay. Harry’s fine. He’s not mad at you; hes already forgiven you. He’s okay.” Niall continued to sob.

There were a thousand things he wanted to say; he wanted to tell Zayn it was all his own fault, he wanted to say Harry would be better if Niall hadn’t done anything. Niall wanted to scream and cry and choke and he wanted to think that he deserved to be like this, but as he thought about how Harry must be feeling, he only wished that he could have not done anything, he wished that he could be in Harry’s arms, not in Zayn’s.

Only after the sun went down did Niall finally stop crying. He had cried so much that he had dehydrated himself and given himself such a horrible headache that he couldn’t even open his eyes. Zayn thought it would be best for Niall to sleep, so sleep is what Niall did. When he woke up in the middle of the night, he found a glass of water and medicine lying on his bedside table with a note from Zayn saying that dinner was in the fridge if he wanted it. Niall took the medicine and drank all of the water before settling deep into his blankets with only his face peeking out of them. Although he didn’t think he could cry anymore, he ended up falling asleep once again hours later with tears in his eyes, wondering to himself how badly Harry’s back would be feelings after sleeping beside Niall for so long.

 

The next morning, Niall got up and ate he food Zayn made last night, as well as everything he could manage to snack on without cooking, such as the leftovers from his first night, and the fruit that sat on the counter. When Zayn didn’t show up with breakfast after an hour, Niall began to worry if Zayn was going to come visit. It would be too lonesome for Niall to stand without someone to talk to.

Niall sat at the writing desk and looked at the phone that sat there. He distinctly remembers Zayn saying to ring him in the morning during his first night, but Zayn never told him a number to call. As Niall began to raise the phone to his ear, someone knocked on his door.

“Niall? You awake in there, buddy?” Zayn called out. Niall smiled and put the phone down.

“Yeah, come in!” He answered, standing up from the desk.

“Hey there. You feeling better than last night?” Zayn asked as he walked in and closed the door. Niall noticed that he was wearing clothes much less formal than the first day, although still completely black.

“Yeah. Thank you for taking care of me yesterday…”

“Well that’s what I’m here for,” Zayn pointed out.

“Can I leave?” Niall asked quickly, looking up at Zayn with a guilty look on his face. “I feel bad for leaving so quickly, but I don’t want to leave Harry. I can’t leave Harry.”

“Of course you can leave. But I don’t want to see you here again, Niall. Make sure that you’re going back somewhere where you know that you’ll be happy and make sure that it’s not _only_ for Harry. You have to go back for yourself, too.” Niall stilled at Zayn’s advice. He was thinking completely for Harry. There wasn’t any way that Niall would be happy if he went back.

 _No, don’t say that_ , Niall thought, _Harry makes me happy. I’ll be happy as long as I have Harry. Maybe not immediately because of the given circumstance, but I can be happy if Harry will be with me._

“It will be for me. _I_ _want_ to be with him. I want to be happy, and I know I can only do that with _him_.”

“Then go,” Zayn motioned his arm towards the door. “No one will stop you, I promise.”

“Aren’t you gonna come with me?”

“I can’t leave with you, Niall, you know that.”

“But you can walk me downstairs, right?”

“Right.” Zayn smiled.

They were quiet as they went downstairs to the lobby. Zayn walked behind the desk and began looking down at the computer again. “If you’re sure you’ll leave, I’ll close your reservation.”

“I’m sure.” Niall nodded.

“Okay. Niall Horan, three days, room 818 on the 8th floor of the north tower.”

“Three days? You said seven last time.”

“I don’t know how many times I’ve said it, but I know everything about you, Niall.” Zayn smirked, looking up at Niall.

“So you knew I would only stay for three days?”

“I did.”

“You’re one hell of a guy, Zayn.” Niall laughed, backing away towards the door. “Do you know if I’ll remember you after I leave?”

“No,” Zayn answered.

“No I won’t remember, or no you don’t know?”

“You’ll have to find out.” He smiled weakly.

“Okay. Goodbye, Zayn. Thank you again!”

“Goodbye, Niall.” Zayn waved.

(When Niall left the building, Zayn’s attention snapped to someone else who walked in, unbeknownst to Niall. “Hello,” Zayn smiled.

“H-hello,” The boy answered. “I’m Louis Tomlinson. I-I don’t know where I am.”

“You’re where you should be, Louis. Your reservation is right here.”)

 

Niall stepped away from the tiled entryway of the hotel slowly. He walked a few feet from the hotel before turning around. The only thing behind him was white. “This is a really weird place,” Niall mumbled to himself, walking forward once more where things continued to become vivid and lively as they had been all day.

Things became familiar. He recognized buildings that he slowly began to pass. They weren’t on the right streets or with the right surroundings, but he knew the people he saw in the windows, and he knew the names of the businesses. He couldn’t stop himself when he began to run. Niall ran as fast as his legs could carry him. He passed his primary school and the home he grew up in. He passed a restaurant that he used to eat at every week with his mates. He passed buildings and parks and houses and streets until a large building came up in the distance on the left side of the street. He saw Harry walking in the doors.

“Harry!” Niall yelled, running to catch up to him. He chased Harry through the doors and down a hallway to an elevator. When he slipped in the elevator with Harry and began to ramble about how sorry he was and how much he missed him, Harry looked straight through him. It was as if Niall wasn’t even there.

“Harry…?” Niall asked through panting breaths. He tried to touch Harry but he couldn’t feel anything. When the elevator stopped on the 8th floor, Niall slowly began to follow Harry. They made two left turns before stopping at room 818.

When Harry opened the door, Niall opened his eyes. He saw Harry standing in the doorway and began to tear up. As Harry quickly came closer to make sure that he was really seeing Niall with his eyes open, Harry sobbed.

“Niall! Niall, you’re awake, you’re alive!” He cried, slowly sinking down into the chair beside his hospital bed. He held onto Niall’s hand like he had so many times in the past three days and he cried as Niall’s fingers closed around his.

Niall tried to speak, but he couldn’t find his voice. Harry quickly wiped the tears away from his eyes and also those in Niall's eyes before mumbling, “You won’t be able to talk for a while. You need to rest your voice. The doctor was telling me that your throat was really, really hurt and you'll have to stay a while longer; until the end of the week, at least.” Harry whimpered, looking at Niall pleadingly. “Please don't ever leave me like that again. Please, Niall, never...”

Niall mouthed, “I love you.”

And Harry cried, “I love you, too.”

**Author's Note:**

> if you have any questions, please ask. i only did one draft of this so it may be a bit confusing, any mistakes are my own fault. thanks for reading!


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